A 50-year-old woman was found guilty by Nicosia Assize Court on Wednesday for embezzling more than €500,000 from her employers over a period of seven years. According to the indictment the crimes took place between May 5, 2003 and March 31, 2010.
The defendant was employed as head of the accounting department and as a cashier and was embezzling money by changing information on accounts.
The fraud was not revealed earlier as the company sold its products on credit and therefore the financial deficits were attributed to credit sales.
After seven years the company’s owner became worried over the proceeds and realised something was wrong with the accounting department when cheques he had issued bounced. He then decided to call an accountant who unveiled the fraud.
The defendant denied charges of stealing the total amount of €544,700, money laundering from illegal activity and keeping false accounts.
It is noted that the accused was the only employee at the company who handled the accounting system and also prepared deposit forms at the bank which she gave to her distributor colleagues to make deposits to the company’s bank account.
The woman also had complete control of the safety deposit box which was located in her office.
Her lawyer George Georgiou is on Thursday expected to argue for sentence mitigation